Here in Sweden most clubs uses Stiga plastic with seam. It works ok, the new version is much more durable than the first ones. Balls behave like they should more or less (no sudden moves to another direction like before) and they carry spin rather good. I have heard that the same goes for many other new versions of seamed plastic balls. Thos has led to that almost no one here uses seamless anymore. Nittaku Premium feels more like a seamless ball, it carries very little spin and is heavy (like a canon ball). I don't like it but I guess all-out-offensive players would like it... just hit as hard as you can all the time never caring about spin It is an expensive ball but not much more expensive than others.

It says there are only 4 manufacturers for the new balls, all different brands' balls are from these four manufacturers: DHS, Double fish, Xushaofa, Nittaku Premium.

To me, I just think the old balls are better and cheaper.

The seamless new ball is too expensive! Ridiculous!

_________________ The Buddha said: “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly,...” And to play table tennis.

It is of course how I have found them to be, but also what many other players in Sweden have said about them. The first DHS seamed balls (autumn 2014) were horrible and we ignored them for the first part of 2015, using seamless balls instead. But after summer 2015 we gave Stiga a new try since we heard that this ball was to be used in many team matches and competitions. And it proved to be a much better ball than their first version. I haven't tried the new Donic or Yasaka but I have heard that those ones also are a lot better than in early 2015.

The video at around 6 minutes shows the stamp of manufacture date all balls get.

I honestly don't see why it would be difficult to get the NP40+ balls (made in Japan). All of the USA major distributors have them and I see lots of other web sites outside the USA with them too. I know they aren't that cheap - but neither were the highest quality celluloid balls.

Right now, being perfectly honest, if you do not buy NP40+ or the XSF seamless you are throwing your money away. The rest are junk.

I meant how could you tell when buying whether you're getting older or newer balls.

Yeah, this is a problem. You have the date code on the box, but it adds another little bit of messiness when ordering online. I wouldn't ask ttnpp (for example) to only send specific date codes and expect them to be bothered.

I've tried to stop worrying about it for now. Seamless play well, are cheap, durable in the main, I enjoy using them, and most teams in my league are sticking with them for now. I've practiced a fair bit with the others to know what the main differences are, but still find it frustrating when I have to switch between them. No real answer to that though.

The video at around 6 minutes shows the stamp of manufacture date all balls get.

I honestly don't see why it would be difficult to get the NP40+ balls (made in Japan). All of the USA major distributors have them and I see lots of other web sites outside the USA with them too. I know they aren't that cheap - but neither were the highest quality celluloid balls.

Right now, being perfectly honest, if you do not buy NP40+ or the XSF seamless you are throwing your money away. The rest are junk.

Some people also like the Butterfly G40+, actually I prefer those to XSF these days. But above all, don't buy Chinese seamed balls unless you are training for an event that will use them -- in which case you will need to train with them.

By the way, I have tried the most recent versions of DHS, from October 2015. They are rounder and seem a bit more durable but they suffer from the same very very low bounce, and to me that is a deal killer.

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